<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by martynriddle:
Also interesting to note the effect favourable foreign exchange movements had on profitability. At over $100m, this accounts for nearly a third of the profit figure!!
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Gain from foreign exchange was $107m on a net profit before tax of $502m.
Generally this will have been from the gains the $AUD has made over the past year against $USD and generally most other currencies.
Most aviation costs (fuel & aircraft being the major two) are fixed relative to the $USD.
QF have suffered in the past with the devaluation of the $AUD.
The fuel cost paragraph makes interesting reading - it must almost be like gambling with the variables of exchange rates, the oil price & hedging to try and smooth the two -
"Fuel costs decreased by 1.9 per cent, or $29.6 million. The underlying fuel price was 15.8 per cent greater than last year, increasing costs by $209.2 million. However, hedging benefits were $107.6 million better than the previous year. While flying hours increased, fuel efficiency gains from new fleet acquisitions reduced litres consumed per hour, resulting in an overall activity saving of $5.3 million versus the prior year. Favourable foreign exchange rate movements also reduced fuel costs by $125.9 million."